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At least 289 records · Page 16

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NASA NTRS1992

Optical pattern recognition III; Proceedings of the Meeting, Orlando, FL, Apr. 21, 22, 1992

Consideration is given to transitioning of optical processing into systems (TOPS), optical correlator hardware, phase-only optical correlation filters, optical distortion-invariant correlation filters, and optical neural networks. Particular attention is given to a test target for optical correlators, a TOPS electronic warfare channelizer program, a portable video-rate optical correlator, a joint transform correlator employing electron trapping materials, a novelty filtered optical correlator using a photorefractive crystal, a comparison of correlation performance of smart ternary phase-amplitude filters with gray-scale and binary input scenes, real-time distortion-tolerant composite filters for automatic target identification, landscaping the correlation surface, fast designing of a circular harmonic filter using simulated annealing, feature-based correlation filters for distortion invariance, automatic target recognition using a feature-based optical neural network, and a holographic inner-product processor for pattern recognition.

Casasent, David P.↗

NASA NTRS1996

[Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in protostellar jets]

NASA grant NAG 5 2866, funded by the Astrophysics Theory Program, enabled the study the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in protostellar jets. In collaboration with co-investigator Philip Hardee, the PI derived the analytic dispersion relation for the instability in including a cooling term in the energy equation which was modeled as one of two different power laws. Numerical solutions to this dispersion relation over a wide range of perturbation frequencies, and for a variety of parameter values characterizing the jet (such as Mach number, and density ratio) were found It was found that the growth rates and wavelengths associated with unstable roots of the dispersion relation in cooling jets are significantly different than those associated with adiabatic jets, which have been studied previously. In collaboration with graduate student Jianjun Xu (funded as a research associate under this grant), hydrodynamical simulations were used to follow the growth of the instability into the nonlinear regime. It was found that asymmetric surface waves lead to large amplitude, sinusoidal distortions of the jet, and ultimately to disruption Asymmetric body waves, on the other hand, result in the formation of shocks in the jet beam in the nonlinear regime. In cooling jets, these shocks lead to the formation of dense knots and filaments of gas within the jet. For sufficiently high perturbation frequencies, however, the jet cannot respond and it remains symmetric. Applying these results to observed systems, such as the Herbig-Haro jets HH34, HH111 and HH47 which have been observed with the Hubble Space Telescope, we predicted that some of the asymmetric structures observed in these systems could be attributed to the K-H modes, but that perturbations on timescales associated with the inner disk (about 1 year) would be too rapid to cause disruption. Moreover, it was discovered that weak shock 'spurs' in the ambient gas produced by ripples in the jet surface due to nonlinear, modes of surface and/or body waves could accelerate the ambient gas to low velocity. This latter effect represents a new mechanism by which supersonic jets can accelerate low velocity outflows.

Stone, James↗

NASA NTRS1999

Inlet Flow Distortion and Unsteady Blade Response in a Transonic Axial-Compressor Rotor

This paper describes the unsteady blade surface pressures on the first-stage rotor blades of a two-stage transonic axial flow compressor experiencing inlet flow distortion. This study was conducted to demonstrate the ability of a full annulus unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes numerical technique to predict unsteady pressures on the rotor blades operating in a distorted inflow. A total pressure distortion produced by a variable mesh screen mounted near the inlet was used to excite the unsteady blade loading on the rotor. On-blade pressure transducers were used to measure the unsteady blade surface pressure. These pressures and the resulting transient load on the rotor blades were compared to the numerical prediction. It is important to develop numerical techniques to predict these transient loads to better understand the response of compressor blades to forcing functions. With this enhanced understanding and ability to predict these transient forces, more robust compressors can be developed. In the study, a high definition of the inlet flow distortion was achieved by rotating the distortion screens. In this manner the inlet flow distortion and the distortion at the first stage stator leading edge were measured at approximately every 0.7 degrees. This full annulus high definition of the inlet flow distortion was used as the inlet boundary condition for the numerical technique. The experimental measurements and numerical analyses are highly complementary in this study. Detailed comparisons between the measurements and the numerical analyses indicate that the current numerical procedure calculates the unsteady aerodynamic pressure on the blade surfaces reasonably well. Further, the agreement of the measured and predicted rotor exit flow distortion at the first stage stator leading edge provides verification of the numerical technique.

Rabe, D. C.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Investigation of Inlet Concepts for Maneuver Improvement at Transonic Speeds

A 15 percent scale lightweight fighter type inlet forebody was tested in the Ames 14 foot transonic wind tunnel at Mach numbers of 0.7, 0.9, and 1.04. The inlet was a two dimensional horizontal ramp system designed for a Mach number of 2.2. Four inlet devices designed to prevent or delay cowl-lip boundary layer separation or to improve the inlet internal flow characteristics at high angles of attack were investigated. The devices used to control cowl-lip separation consisted of cowl leading edge flaps, slotted flaps, and tangential blowing. To improve the internal flow characteristics, discrete jet nozzle flows were directed downstream and parallel to the duct surface in the subsonic diffuser to energize the wall boundary layer. The discrete jets used in the subsonic diffuser were also tested in combination with each of the cowl leading edge devices. Test measurements included engine-face total pressure recovery, steady state distortion, dynamic distortion, duct boundary layer profiles, and duct-surface static pressures.

Latham, E.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Effective radii of annuli in surface photometry

When surface photometry is done in concentric annuli, there is a tendency toward distortion of the true profile because of the finite widths of the annuli. This distortion can be avoided by choosing an effective radius for the annulus such that the actual surface brightness at that radius is equal to the average surface brightness over the annulus. This effective radius depends on the shape of the radial profile, but its calculation can be performed in an iterative way. Formulas for the effective radius are given for some typical profile shapes.

King, Ivan R.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Dielectric Screening Modulates Semiconductor Nanoplatelet Excitons

The influence of external dielectric environments is well understood for 2D semiconductor materials but overlooked for colloidally grown II–VI nanoplatelets (NPLs). In this work, we synthesize MX (M = Cd, Hg; X = Se, Te) NPLs of varying thicknesses and apply the Elliott model to extract exciton binding energies—reporting values in good agreement with prior methods and extending to less studied cadmium telluride and mercury chalcogenide NPLs. Here, we find that the exciton binding energy is modulated both by the relative effect of internal vs external dielectric and by the thickness of the semiconductor material. An analytical model shows dielectric screening increases the exciton binding energy relative to the bulk by distorting the Coulombic potential across the NPL surface. We further confirm this effect by decreasing and recovering the exciton binding energy of HgTe NPLs through washing in polarizable solvents. Our results illustrate NPLs are colloidal analogues of van der Waals 2D semiconductors and point to surface modification as an approach to control photophysics and device properties.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

NASA NTRS1973

Drift shell splitting by internal geomagnetic multipoles.

Computations on an 80-coefficient model of the earth's field illustrate the 'topography' of the magnetic equatorial surface and the geometry of the drift shells of geomagnetically trapped particles. Individual terms in the spherical harmonic expansion of the geomagnetic scalar potential V(r, theta, phi) are either even or odd in cos theta, where theta = 90 deg denotes the dipole equator. Terms that are even in cos theta tend to 'warp' the equatorial surface, but do not (in first order) distort particle drift shells radially nor split the drift shells of particles having different equatorial pitch angles. Azimuthally asymmetric terms that are odd in cos theta do cause shell splitting in first order. Shell splitting at large L values (neglecting deformation of the earth's field by the solar wind) is found to be dominated by the geomagnetic octupole. At L approximately equal to 1, shell splitting is strongly enhanced by the South American and South African anomalies. When combined with pitch angle diffusion caused by atmospheric scattering, these results may be able to account for anomalous radial diffusion of inner zone electrons.

Roederer, J. G.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Models of radar imaging of the ocean surface waves

A number of models which would explain ocean wave imagery taken with a synthetic aperture imaging radar are analyzed analytically and numerically. Actual radar imagery is used to support some conclusions. The models considered correspond to three sources of radar backscatter cross section modulation: tilt modulation, roughness variation, and the wave orbital velocity. The effect of the temporal changes of the surface structure, parametric interactions, and the resulting distortions are discussed.

Elachi, C.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Nanolaminate Mirrors With "Piston" Figure-Control Actuators

Efforts are under way to develop a special class of thin-shell curved mirrors for high-resolution imaging in visible and infrared light in a variety of terrestrial or extraterrestrial applications. These mirrors can have diameters of the order of a meter and include metallic film reflectors on nanolaminate substrates supported by multiple distributed piezoceramic gpiston h-type actuators for micron-level figure control. Whereas conventional glass mirrors of equivalent size and precision have areal mass densities between 50 and 150 kg/sq m, the nanolaminate mirrors, including not only the reflector/ shell portions but also the actuators and the backing structures needed to react the actuation forces, would have areal mass densities that may approach .5 kg/m2. Moreover, whereas fabrication of a conventional glass mirror of equivalent precision takes several years, the reflector/shell portion of a nanolaminate mirror can be fabricated in less than a week, and its actuation system can be fabricated in 1 to 2 months. The engineering of these mirrors involves a fusion of the technological heritage of multisegmented adaptive optics and deformable mirrors with more recent advances in metallic nanolaminates and in mathematical modeling of the deflections of thin, curved shells in response to displacements by multiple, distributed actuators. Because a nanolaminate shell is of the order of 10 times as strong as an otherwise identical shell made of a single, high-strength, non-nanolaminate metal suitable for mirror use, a nanolaminate mirror can be made very thin (typically between 100 and 150 m from the back of the nanolaminate substrate to the front reflecting surface). The thinness and strength of the nanolaminate are what make it possible to use distributed gpiston h-type actuators for surface figure control with minimal local concentrated distortion (called print-through in the art) at the actuation points.

Lowman, Andrew↗

NASA NTRS2014

Scientific Impact of MODIS C5 Calibration Degradation and C6+ Improvements

The Collection 6 (C6) MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) land and atmosphere data sets are scheduled for release in 2014. C6 contains significant revisions of the calibration approach to account for sensor aging. This analysis documents the presence of systematic temporal trends in the visible and near-infrared (500 m) bands of the Collection 5 (C5) MODIS Terra and, to lesser extent, in MODIS Aqua geophysical data sets. Sensor degradation is largest in the blue band (B3) of the MODIS sensor on Terra and decreases with wavelength. Calibration degradation causes negative global trends in multiple MODIS C5 products including the dark target algorithm's aerosol optical depth over land and Ångstrom exponent over the ocean, global liquid water and ice cloud optical thickness, as well as surface reflectance and vegetation indices, including the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI). As the C5 production will be maintained for another year in parallel with C6, one objective of this paper is to raise awareness of the calibration-related trends for the broad MODIS user community. The new C6 calibration approach removes major calibrations trends in the Level 1B (L1B) data. This paper also introduces an enhanced C6C calibration of the MODIS data set which includes an additional polarization correction (PC) to compensate for the increased polarization sensitivity of MODIS Terra since about 2007, as well as detrending and Terra- Aqua cross-calibration over quasi-stable desert calibration sites. The PC algorithm, developed by the MODIS ocean biology processing group (OBPG), removes residual scan angle, mirror side and seasonal biases from aerosol and surface reflectance (SR) records along with spectral distortions of SR. Using the multiangle implementation of atmospheric correction (MAIAC) algorithm over deserts, we have also developed a detrending and cross-calibration method which removes residual decadal trends on the order of several tenths of 1% of the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance in the visible and near-infrared MODIS bands B1-B4, and provides a good consistency between the two MODIS sensors. MAIAC analysis over the southern USA shows that the C6C approach removed an additional negative decadal trend of Terra (Delta)NDVI approx.0.01 as compared to Aqua data. This change is particularly important for analysis of vegetation dynamics and trends in the tropics, e.g., Amazon rainforest, where the morning orbit of Terra provides considerably more cloud-free observations compared to the afternoon Aqua measurements.

Terra and Aqua↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Update on EPIC MAIAC V2 Algorithm: Atmospheric Correction

Alexei Lyapustin presented a new v2 MAIAC atmospheric correction algorithm for EPIC. The v2 algorithm introduced new projection removing spatial distortions, a more accurate retrieval of spectral surface reflectance using ancillary MAIAC MODIS BRDF dataset, and a new technique for simultaneous retrieval of aerosol optical depth and spectral absorption. AERONET validation shows that v2 significantly improved AOD accuracy compared to v1, while the retrieved single scattering albedo in the Blue shows a very good accuracy comparable to that of AERONET for both biomass burning smoke and mineral dust aerosols.

Alexei Lyapustin↗

DOE OSTI2022

Laser pulse shaping for additive manufacturing

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for additively manufacturing a product in a layer-by-layer sequence, wherein the product is formed using powder particles deposited on an interface layer of a substrate. A laser generates first and second beam components. The second beam component has a higher power level and a shorter duration than the first beam component. A mask creates a 2D optical pattern in which only select portions of the second beam components can irradiate the powder particles. The first beam component heats the powder particles close to a melting point, where the particles experience surface tension forces relative to the interface layer. While the particles are heated, the second beam component further heats the particles and also melts the interface layer before the surface tension forces can act on and distort the particles, enabling the particles and the interface layer are able to bond together.

DeMuth, James A.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Laser pulse shaping for additive manufacturing

DeMuth, James A.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Complex structure due to As bonding and interplay with electronic structure in superconducting BaNi 2 As 2

BaNi 2 As 2 is a superconductor chemically related to the Fe-based superconductors, with a complex and poorly understood structural phase transition. We show, based on first-principles calculations, that, in fact, there are two distinct competing structures. These structures are different from the electronic, transport, and bonding points of view but are close in energy. These arise due to complex As bonding patterns and drive distortions of the Ni layers. This is supported by photoemission experiments. This is very distinct from views of the distortion as being primarily driven by electrons at the Fermi surface as in a classical charge density wave, or by correlated electron physics associated with the Ni d electrons and the Ni d orbitals. The structural distortion, although connected with As does lead to an interplay of electronic and structural behavior including induced anisotropic electronic transport. Here, the local bonding nature of the instabilities and the competition between distortions is discussed in the context of the complex behavior observed in BaNi 2 As 2 samples.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2023

Development and Characterization of Electrodes for Surface-Specific Attenuated Total Reflection Two-Dimensional Infrared Spectroelectrochemistry

Electrochemical interfaces still have remaining mysteries surrounding the interfacial region of the electrical double layer, despite being prevalent throughout the energy and water remediation industries. The electrical double layer is where many important dynamic processes such as catalysis and electron transfer occur. The goal of this work is to study the electrical double layer with two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy to experimentally access the details of the structural dynamics of this complex environment. However, there are several experimental challenges to applying 2D IR spectroscopy to this application, such as assuring the surface specificity of the spectrum, optimizing the signal strength while minimizing spectral distortions from dispersion and Fano line shapes, and selecting electrode materials that are both sufficiently IR compatible and conductive. Here we will discuss various considerations when designing 2D IR experiments of electrode interfaces utilizing several substrates and experimental configurations and demonstrate a robust method for 2D IR experiments of electrode interfaces under applied potential that combines nonconducting Si ATR wafers with conductive ITO and thin nanostructured films of plasmonically active Au functionalized with 3-mercapto-2-butanone (MCB). We show that layered electrodes on thin Si ATR wafers with MCB are sensitive to applied potential and that the distortions in the linear and 2D IR spectra are heavily dependent on the morphology of the Au surface.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2022

Quantifying Errors in Effective Cluster Interactions of Lattice Gas Cluster Expansions

The promise of lattice gas (LG) cluster expansions (CEs) is that they can describe a given system property to any level of accuracy since the orthogonal “cluster basis functions” span the complete space of available configurations. Such an approach can be constructed to an arbitrarily large surface of a finite number of distinct adsorption sites. Unfortunately, this is only true for the case of an ideal, fixed lattice decorated with components at precise lattice points (the lattice “sites”) with no distortions or relaxations subsequently allowed. Since most systems, and surfaces specifically, do not conform to such an ideal set of constraints, errors in LG CEs must be expected or CE convergence severely hampered. Beyond this, numerical errors in the provided data can complicate the proper construction of a truly predictive and/or physically significant CE. In this work, we show here how reliance on typical statistical tools like confidence intervals cannot be expected to provide an accurate representation of the uncertainty of effective cluster interactions (ECIs) in the CE due to the nature of the target ab initio data and the nature of CEs themselves. We develop a method for estimating these errors that does not rely on statistical assumptions about the model or data. We then use these ECI errors to quantify fundamental consequences on the uncertainty of ECIs in CEs built from O/Fe(100) data whose surface and adsorbates have been allowed to relax in a typical manner and from O/Fe(100) data whose surface and adsorbates are fixed in ideal lattice positions. We also quantify the effect of using a different density functional theory exchange–correlation functional, using these ECI errors to assess the significance in any deviations. In both cases, our method is shown to have remarkable utility in the quantification of errors in the ECIs of CEs. While we stick to the lattice gas convention in this work, the method is equally applicable to the Ising convention or, in principle, any linear model of sufficient complexity.

08 HYDROGEN↗

DOE OSTI2020

Study of space charge in the ICARUS T600 detector

The accumulation of positive ions, produced by ionizing particles crossing Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LAr-TPCs), may generate distortions of the electric drift field affecting the track reconstruction of the ionizing events. These effects could become relevant for large LAr-TPCs operating at surface or at shallow depth, where the detectors are exposed to a copious flux of cosmic rays. We report a detailed study of such possible field distortions in the ICARUS T600 LAr-TPC has been performed analyzing a sample of cosmic muon tracks recorded with one T600 module operated at surface in 2001. The maximum track distortion turns out to be of few mm in good agreement with the prediction by a numerical calculation. As a cross-check, the same analysis has been performed on a cosmic muon sample recorded during the ICARUS T600 run at the LNGS underground laboratory, where the cosmic ray flux was suppressed by a factor $\sim 10^6$ by 3400 m water equivalent shielding. No appreciable distortion has been observed, confirming that the effects measured on surface are actually due to ion space charge.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

NASA NTRS1975

Dichromated-gelatin hologram process for improved optical quality

Optical distortions are eliminated by use of wetting agency followed by sequential immersion in several alcohol-water baths of increasing alcohol concentration. Dehydration proceeds uniformly over surface of gelatin. Dried plate is free of optically-distorting thickness variations.

Stewart, W. C.↗